Page 38 of Power & Punishment

“Yeah,” she replies, his brows pushing together.

“I did some more digging and I was able to see where the signal wanted to go. It turns out the relay sits on a private network that’s connected to a couple of other investigations. Old ones.”

Wow. Maybe her partner isn’t completely useless after all.

“And I’m guessing those cases are connected to⁠—”

“The Caruso’s,” he breathes, cutting her off. My molars grind together.

“Okay, so someone from the Caruso crew is keeping tabs on Leo? That just proves they’re connected somehow. It might be what we need—” This time she stops herself midsentence. “Never mind.”

Keith responds to her with a concerned frown but presses forward. “Here’s the thing. I’m seeing a pattern with cases connected to the Carusos. They always get shut down before anything can be resolved—just like the commissioner tried to shut us down when we wanted to bring in Leo DeLuca for questioning. I think we’re playing with fire here. We could both lose our jobs or worse.”

Pride and the tiniest bit of anxiety twist inside me when I see the way Mia’s entire body tenses up, just like it does when she’s ready to fight back. I can feel the fire inside her from over here, which is why I’m surprised when she says, “You’re right. We should drop it.”

“What?” Keith asks as surprised as I am. But somehow, I know she’s bluffing. Maybe her partner doesn’t know her that well after all.

“I’m agreeing with you. It’s dangerous, and we’re putting a target on our backs.”

He pauses for a moment, searching her face for the answers he won’t find. “Bullshit.”

“I’m serious,” Mia shrugs casually. Way too casual for the way her hand shakes at her side. “The Caruso’s obviously have connections inside the NYPD. If we keep investigating Vince Russo’s murder, our warrants will keep getting denied, and eventually we’ll get reassigned altogether. It’s not worth it.”

“She’s a good actor when she needs to be,” I mumble. Michael throws me a side glance but doesn’t say anything.

“You never drop a case, Mia. Even when we were investigating that eighty-year-old widow that killed her grandson and we couldn’t find a shred of evidence. You didn’t give up until we caught her faking a limp. What the hell.”

“You’re the one that suggested it,” she says, the shakiness of her hand now vibrating up her arm. “I’m not going to argue with you for agreeing with your idea, Keith. I’ll talk to the captain when we get to the station. Just drop it. I’m going to go get cleaned up. Meet me out front in twenty.”

She doesn’t give him a chance to respond before tearing away toward the locker room.

Keith stands there, cemented in place and staring blankly like he can’t believe what just happened. Eventually, something clicks, and he makes his way to the men’s locker room.

“Do you really think the Carusos are spying on you?” Michael asks, sliding his phone into his pocket.

“I wouldn’t be surprised. I haven’t given them any reason to mistrust me, but you know how Enzo is,” I shrug, “and if he knew what we were planning, I’d already be dead. So, it’s safe to assume we’re in the clear.”

“Right,” he replies, his expression an unreadable black pit. “Let’s get out of here then. I’ve got a few things I need to take care of.”

“I’ll take a cab,” I say, my eyes trained on the door Mia just disappeared through. “I’m going to go have a little chat with our girl.”

12

MIA

The hot water feels amazing on my aching muscles. It almost feels good enough to make me forget about lying to my partner’s face.

Almost.

I watch the soap suds disappear into the shower drain and tell myself that what I did is a good thing. I’m protecting Keith. I’ll continue to investigate Vince’s murder outside of work, and this way I can keep him out of it completely.

That’s if Leo lets me, and guessing by the way he and his crony were spying on us, I’d say that’s a hard no.

I saw him out of the corner of my eye when I was sparring with Keith. I could tell he was trying to be stealthy, but a man like that can’t enter a room without turning a few heads.

Not to mention I could feel his eyes on me. The heat of his attention feels like a rush of excitement and fear all rolled into one.

When I hear the door to the locker room swing open, I don’t react. Part of me knew he’d follow me in here, and I was too exhausted to give him a reaction. So, I turn off the water and wrap my towel around my body as I decide to face the thorn in my side head-on.